Jean-Louis Barrault

Jean-Louis Bernard Barrault (; 8 September 1910 – 22 January 1994) was a French actor, director and mime artist who worked on both screen and stage. Biography Barrault was born in Le Vésinet in France in 1910. His father was 'a Burgundian pharmacist who died in the First World War.':87 He studied at the Collége Chaptal until 1930, when he began his studies at the École du Louvre.:87 Theatre From 1931 to 1935 Barrault studied and acted at Charles Dullin's L'Atelier.:32 His first performance was a small role in Ben Jonson's Volpone. At the time, Barrault was unable to afford rent and Dullin allowed him to sleep in the theatre on Volpone's bed.:16 It was L'Atelier that he first met and studied under Étienne Decroux,:41 with whom he would create the pantomime La Vie Primitive in 1931.:87 He was a member of the Comédie-Française from 1942 to 1946, performing lead roles in Shakespeare's Hamlet and Corneille's Le Cid.:32 He and his wife, actress Madeleine Renaud, formed their own troupe, Compagnie Renaud-Barrault, in 1946 at Paris' Théâtre Marigny.:161 In 1951 he published his memoirs, Reflections on the Theatre.